Just before New Years’ 2008, 28 young adults were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and five were charged with unlawful mischief for an underage drinking party thrown at late poet Robert Frost’s former summer home. The damage was estimated at more than $10,000.

Teens get into trouble with the law for a variety of reasons: petty theft, substance abuse, breaking and entering, and driving offenses. Having a child who breaks the law may be one of the hardest things for a parent to acknowledge. And yet, in order to turn the behavior around, that’s exactly what they must do.

 

Stop It Before It Starts

Jeremy T.* and Ryan B.* of Cincinnati, OH, both 17, were caught drinking alcohol with a group of friends in a public square. The policeman who saw them approached the students and asked for their names and ages.

“We were taken to the police station where our parents had to pick us up,” Ryan said. All eight students were sentenced to 15 hours of community service and fined $50.

And what effect did this punishment have? Very little.

“We were being really dumb by drinking in public,” Ryan said. “Since then, I have tried to drink outside as little as possible, but if I do, I’m always ready to run. But it has not stopped me from drinking even though I’m underage.”

“Underage drinking often leads to other problems that involve poor decision making,” says Dave Carlisle, a captain of the Department of Public Safety at the University of Southern California. “The abuse of alcohol reduces inhibitions, which can lead to drunk driving and sexual assault.”

* Names have been changed

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Issue: August 2008